The werewolf film is one of the most beloved and well-trod sub-genres in the realm of the horror film; from The Wolf Man to An American Werewolf In London up to Dog Soldiers, many of the genre’s best films revolve around those that turn into wolves when the wolfbane blooms and the moon is full and bright. And many of those films are tinged with tragedy; Lon Chaney’s Larry Talbot is a man who is cursed simply by his desire to help a passerby being attack by an animal. And David Naughton’s Jack Goodman is inconveniently stricken with lycanthropy just before meeting the love of his life. Alexander J. Farrell’s The Beast Within attempts to take this tragic pedigree into some new and interesting places with his debut feature by viewing the werewolf scenario through the eyes of a child possibly witnessing a parent degrade into something lupine and bestial.
The Beast Within is the story of Caoillinn Springall as Willow, a sickly girl who lives in the countryside of England with her parents Imogen and Noah (played by Ashleigh Cummings and Kit Harington respectively) and her grandfather (played by fellow Game Of Thrones alumni James Cosmo). Willow notices rising tension in the household, coinciding with her father’s strange disappearances at the same time every month. Soon, she discovers a horrifying family secret, and her world becomes a ceaseless nightmare.
Now, the strength of this movie is mostly within the chemistry between all the actors. Cosmo is perfect as the doting grandfather who’s also prepared to fuck someone up for messing with his family; his interactions with Springall are adorable and his defending her from the insane condition of her father is wholly believable. Harington is adept at playing a man who seems to truly want to be a good father and has genuine affection for his family; much like Cosmo, his scenes with Springall ring true. Rounding it out is Cummings, who gives a very real depiction of a woman who loves her husband but doesn’t really know how to handle what is going on with him and is truly struggling to keep the family together.
Similarly strong is the way this movie is shot. While it’s clearly set in England, the time frame is somewhat hazy. It could be twenty years ago; it could be fifty. Either way, it has a very distinct fairy tale feel to it, and not just because of the subject matter. Cinematographer Daniel Katz paints a gorgeously surreal picture of rural England, complete with wide shots of green hills, misty fields leading to enchanting forests, and ancient ruins next to country roads. There’s a welcomed feeling of past and present colliding into a timeless haze that gives the film an almost dreamlike feel.
Alas, for all the strengths this film has, its most glaring weakness is an indecisiveness as to what it wants to. Farrell seems to want the film to be two very distinct and very incompatible stories. Either one would be compelling, but his apparent inability to decide which story he wants to tell unfortunately drags the film down and does much to cripple a successful landing. It feels almost as if much of the film was told with the intent of portraying the film in one way, and then towards the end a halfhearted feint is made to try and suggest something that with enough earlier build up would have been interesting but instead now comes off as just confusing and, I’m sorry to say, a lazy attempt at injecting heavier drama into the story.
The Beast Within is not a bad film. For the most part it is an enjoyable film that is good enough to circumnavigate the classic rule of werewolf films (a werewolf film lives and dies on its werewolf design). The attempt at the werewolf as an allegory for familial abuse is an interesting one, but again the late game “twist” sadly brings the rest of the film down.
